Whole Dog Journal's Blog
April 27, 2016

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It's Tick Time!

This is the most trying time of the year for walking my dogs off-leash. On March 15 each year, the rules change for my favorite place to walk dogs, and only leashed dogs are allowed, until the end of June, for the bird nesting season. Rather than walk three dogs on leash - something I "can"do but don't enjoy - I switch to another nearby area where dogs are allowed off-leash year round. But in this particular area, oh my goodness, the ticks abound.

I could forgo our off-leash walks for the months when the tick-free area where I walk the dogs the rest of the year is restricted to leashed dogs. But because we are able to walk off-leash so much of the time, my dogs (especially Otto) seem to really miss the joys of leash-free walks: being able to run ahead and run back, stop and really smell something very deeply, running to catch up if sniffing took a long time, stopping in mid-stride from time to time to stare at something or (again) smell the air for faint scents of wild animals or other walkers. After a leash-free walk, they sleep harder and longer, and their behavior is better for more days afterward.

The relatively large American Dog Tick is one problem; the tiny deer tick is another thing altogether, especially when they are crawling through my dog Otto's abundant, long hair. Even though I use monthly applications of Frontline at this time of year, after a walk on the trail in this area, I have to spend at least an hour going through Otto's coat with a Furminator (his undercoat is shedding, so this helps that task, too) and then a flea comb, catching ticks in the tight tines of the combs, and dropping them into a glass of soapy water.

I usually drown ticks in soapy water; for some reason, the soap seems to help kill them faster than plain water. These ticks died suspended on soap bubbles, without even being immersed. Weird.

I start at Otto's head and work down each leg. I look between his toes for grass awns - and find a tiny tick crawling between the toes of one front foot. I work backward, finding fewer ticks on his rear end; they seem to always migrate in the direction of his head, and tend to bite him (if I fail to locate them) on his neck and behind his ears. If, after going over him from nose to tail, I can comb for five or ten minutes without finding another tick, I call it quits. Tonight, after a two-hour, leisurely hike with the dogs and my husband, it took me an hour to accomplish tick-free combing.

It's five times as bad if I haven't put Frontline on him for over a month.

Some of you are horrified at the prospect of using a spot-on pesticide on your dog. You must not live in or walk in a tick-infested area. Or know anyone with a dog who suffered from any of the tick-borne diseases: Lyme, anaplasmosis, erlichiosis, babesiosis, or Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Ticks LOVE Otto. It takes a long time to de-tick him after a walk in the woods at this time of year, even though he’s got Frontline on.

None of my dogs have ever had a bad reaction to Frontline, though my son's dog, Cole, had a very bad reaction (with vomiting, diarrhea, and a loss of appetite for a couple of days) to Advantix.

I've tried a variety of home-prepared remedies that are supposed to repel ticks, such as sprays that contain essential oils; the most commonly mentioned is rose geranium oil. I've not seen any reduction in the number of ticks on my dog when using only essential oil-based preparations. I'm sticking with Frontline for now.

What works for keeping ticks off your dogs?

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Comments (35)

Thanks for sharing this detailed information about ticks and diseases caused by them. Lyme disease in dogs can be hard for some dog owners to detect right away, but chances are that one of the following symptoms will soon follow within 24 to 72 hours after a tick has attached itself to your dog's skin. To know more you can visit yalepest.com over the web.

I had used Frontline Plus for years. In our area (central VA) it worked for fleas and ticks as long as I applied it monthly, without fail. Last summer I used NexGard. It worked well--no reaction and no engorged ticks. This year I'm using Bravecto, and so far it's working well. Occasionally, I will find a live tick that has ridden in on a dog, but that's it.

I had 3 dogs develop Lyme disease after tick bites and of course all 3 had to go on a course of antibiotics. I had been using Frontline Plus, obviously without much success. My vet recommended the Scalibor Protector Band. It's been more than 8 years and not a tick bite since using the Scalibor band. Yes, I do use Advantage II for fleas during flea season only. I don't like having to use these chemicals but neither do I want my current dog to develop tick related diseases
nor become a feeding ground for fleas. If you live in tick and flea country, you do what you have to do to keep your dog as safe and healthy as possible. I also give her anti-oxidants to help counter the effects of the chemicals on her internal organs.

There are a lot of alternatives to using chemicals, they are unnecessary and there are some good alternatives suggested in the comments, it's a matter of finding the one that will work for you and your pet.
The most important thing it to ensure that your pet has a healthy immune!

Switch from frontline to nexguard, the monthly pink chewable . It works so much better than frontline, and we live in the woods now. On front-line I would find 10 engorged. ticks on my dog every day and she was only 10 pounds . On nexguard, she has none

All the chemical spot ons and orals have adverse effects...nearly all of them have Facebook groups where you can read stories and get information on how to report any adverse effects. Of course some of those stories are likely unrelated to the tick product but with so many for each there is certainly grounds for concern. I think each individual dog may or may not be sensitive to each individual product. Unfortunately you don't know until you've applied it/your dog has ingested it and then it's too late. But tick borne disease can be very nasty.

Our WI property is a deer tick haven...sometimes it feels as if we are overrun with ticks. I used to use Frontline Plus but began to see the occasional tick on each of our dogs. I've always feared the potential side effects of the spot ons so I decided to try a natural method. I give Springtime Bug Off Garlic daily for fleas, Petzlife Tickz herbal supplement every two months for ticks and also apply a drop of Geranium Bourbon essential oil each morning to each dog's topskull, withers and base of tail for ticks. Along with daily tick exams. I have had acceptable success with this approach. A caution...1) you must use a high quality essential oil from a reputable company and 2) using a general insect repellent essential oil blend will not work against ticks as effectively as the single oil Geranium Bourbon which is considered the best tick repelling essential oil by certified aromatherapists.

Our dogs still come up with a few attached ticks over our long tick season and each has had a positive Lyme's test once or twice over the years. We simply treat with doxy or mino if the previous test was negative. And I watch our dogs like a hawk so any symptoms are addressed immediately. So far so good.

The downside with a natural tick approach is that it only repels ticks. So the ticks sometimes ride in on our dogs and then drop off after they realize they don't like the ride...where I find them crawling on the floor. Yuk, but I actually have come to enjoy that as it proves my approach is working. Our dogs sleep on the bed with us so my hubby and I apply diluted Geranium Bourbon roll-on before bed to prevent any ticks from liking us better.

If you must have 100% effectiveness then a natural approach is not for you. But even the chemicals will eventually lose their 100% effectiveness eventually...just like Frontline did.

Having lost a German Shepherd to complications from Rocky Mtn Spotted Tick fever I know how deadly the horrid things are. I use Nexgard on my GSD and Flat Coat Ret. no adverse reaction and we are on year two of spring/summer/fall use.
I use it until we have a couple of very very hard freezes and then start up again in Feb.

We love Bug off Garlic from Springtime! Think they smell lovely after eating! But the ticks have been really bad. Dozens of then each time we go out and about. So, unwillingly I put ParaStar on my dogs. I don't know if it works, I don't feel good about it. Their coat is all oily crunchy where it was applied. I am going to try a collar after a bath and continue with our garlic.
Great to have all of these comments and advice to learn from.

We've had ticks in the yard this spring worse than ever before. For a week I was pulling them off every dog every day (glad I had the tick puller). One day I got 7 off one dog. They've been on Advantix II but it wasn't working. I put them in a kennel, treated the yard (for the first time), and gave them Nexgard. They haven't had any since.

I use Bug-Off Garlic from Springtime full dose. Last year, we travelled into a heavily "ticked" area.
It worked great on one of my two dogs, the other one was going through her first (and last) heat cycle; I wonder if this made her attractive enough in spite of the garlic.
To be noted, it is the oil on the dogs coat that is changed from that product and will repel the ticks and bugs, so shampooing is best to wait for after the tick season.
Also, Nancy, soap kills bugs by removing the oil from the bug's skin. Then their inner moisture evaporates and they dehydrate!
If all fails may be frequent shampoos? Anyone tried this?

I just lost my beloved 10 year old black lab to ehrliciosous a few weeks ago and it was the most by far painful loss. Her kidneys failed and fast..She left behind her littermate and another brother/playmate. I had her on front line for years and changed to nexguard the last year. She tested positive for Lyme's 7 years ago and never had the first sign or symptom. I never even found a tick on her. Although we have plenty around. No matter what you choose to use, always check frequently because the only sure prevention is not to let them get bitten in the first place. I hate ticks and am confused as to their purpose or existence. Hope no one else has to endure this loss..

I have a 7 yr old labrador in Bangalore. Ever since early summer started here from February and now it is more severe, it is virtually a war against ticks. For nearly 2 months, he lost appetite, hardly drinking water and lost weight. Fortunately there was no infection, but toxins might have affected liver. I have been spraying tickicide in his habitat both inside house and outside once in a week to keep away ticks. But still they will not die easily but move so fast towards the dog. Almost every day I manually remove attached ticks and dip them in pesticide. He could not be administered with any oral drug as he could easily smell it and gave up eating thinking there might be some tablet inside the food. I gave him homeopathic medicine and gave chicken soup prepared with garlic, ginger and turmeric which helped in detoxifying liver. He is now eating well and drinking enough water. I keep him inside house always, but still ticks attack him every day. Regularly I remove the nymphs and small ticks which take shelter in the corners of roof and side walls and I kill them. I am only praying for a heavy rain to wash them away outside the house ! A few drops of garlic juice on the back of neck once in a while seem to help a bit. Collar did not help much. Regular bath with tickicide soap or shampoo helped only to remove ticks from thick fur but only momentary. By my regular watch on him, both by removing ticks and proper timely food, he has survived. Any slightest negligence would kill dogs. I understand there is a monthly injection given to dogs, so that the attached ticks fall off and dog remains safe. Has anyone tried this and if so pls share your experience.

Ooops. I forgot to mention that I also dust my dog with Diatomaceous Earth (food grade) as well. Remember once it gets wet (as in bath time or after swimming) it loses it's ability to discourage fleas and ticks. That along with the Apple Cider vinegar in his water bowl and the BugOff garlic from Springtime worked for me.

BugOff Garlic had made a huge difference for my very active Australian Shepherds. Still, the quantity of ticks we encounter on walks is astonishing. I've had excellent results from using Preventic collars with amitraz. This compound paralyzes a tick's mouthparts; it can't bite your dog, which actually must happen if any of he spot-on products are going to kill the ticks! Follow the directions on the packaging as to when a dog is old enough to use the product - and watch very closely for ANY signs of irritation on your pup's neck. The product remains active even when dogs swim a LOT. I have found the best way to find ticks in the thick Aussie double coat, is to turn on our big show dog forced air blow drier; the hair gets parted at the skin level, and it is far easier to spot the small irregular bumps that might be ticks, or burrs, that hours and hours of line combing. After a grand river walk in the heaviest tick places, it takes me less than 20 minutes with the dryer to examine TWO Aussies, top to bottom. Never imagined the dryer would be part of our anti tick protocol - who knew? The BugOff Garlic from Springtime seriously reduced the number of ticks that choose to hop aboard; before BugOff Garlic, finding more than 300 ticks per dog was the norm, whereas now I find fewer than 10 on both dogs combined...and thanks to the tick collar, none of those ticks have managed to bite. The amitraz collars are effective for 3 months at a time, and I found decent prices on Amazon. The BugOff Garlic comes from Springtime; in their catalogs and web site, it explains why the misunderstanding of garlic toxicity came about. For what amounts to a nickle per day for both dogs, they enjoy the anti inflammatory, circulatory, and bug repellant properties, and reduce the hours I spend removing ticks. Great stuff!

I have used Springtime tablets for 2 yrs but have been fighting ticks and fleas the whole time. Won't buy that again.

I save Frontline Plus for occasional crisis use, with no problem ... until we visited Georgia in Nov. I found out too late that Frontline is ineffective against ticks and fleas in both Georgia and Florida. I tried various essential oil combo sprays as recommended online at various holistic sites with only negligible effectiveness.

In Georgia my small dog ended up with hundreds of deer ticks after a romp on a grassy trail. I tried to comb as many out as possible immediately after the walk and spent 2 hours that evening trying to remove them from her face (over 40 counted in the bowl of soapy water). Excruciating for her. The next morning, I took her to a groomer and had her shaved to the skin (she's a poodle mix), the better to find and remove ticks (she's black which doesn't help). It was a nightmare in every way.

When the Frontline did not immediately work, someone told me that they are resistant to it in Georgia. I was reluctant to try any other medication on her to avoid overloading her system. Her holistic vet suggested a 1 week on/1 week off 2-month regime of echinacea to bolster her immune system in the event of tick borne diseases.

We've been back in Michigan for a month and so far so good. But not at all sure what to do once flea and tick season starts here. More Frontline ... or ???

My dog always attracted ticks like flies to a honey-pot. Finally, after alot of research, I started him on a regime and he has not had a single tick since:

1) Braggs raw apple cider vinegar in his water every day (1-2 Tbls, based on weight and size of water bowl.)

2) Garlic from SpringtimeInc.com (This made a HUGE difference!). You have to be consistent and remember that it takes 3 weeks to saturate all the tissues. Also, if you use a detergent based shampoo (or any harsh shampoo) to wash your dog, it's like starting all over again because it will wash off the oils on the skin and the garlic in the skin oils along with it. Use a gentle unscented baby shampoo like Burt's Bees or even baking soda (do the research).

I had a beloved 7-yr-old collie mix die of ehrlichiosis and it was awful in every way. I now have short haired dogs and I check for ticks and give them Nexgard chewable. I would consider a nontoxic spray to discourage ticks but will give them whatever preventive they can tolerate. I never want to go through that again.

I just had this conversation with a great Vet I know from the University of Guelph. Turns out, just about EVERYTHING I thought I knew about tick "prevention" is wrong.

What he told me: NONE of the spot or internal treatments will keep ticks OFF of dogs. They will kill ticks (and fleas), once the flea or tick is on the dog, and in some cases, has bitten the dog. They will not keep ticks off.

The only truly effective method to keep ticks from attaching in the first place is a collar, preferably one with amitraz as the active ingredient.

As much as I hate chemical pest treatments, having seen a dog I bred suffer from Lyme Disease related illness has convinced me that if I lived in an area where Lyme is a concern, I'd be using collars on all my dogs.

Last year stopped using Frontline, - my dogs got Lyme disease, it was ineffective as the tick population soared last Spring..,so last year I found Seresto...it really works!
No ticks...no fleas either...am also having second thoughts about the Lyme vaccine, when my dog got a bad reaction....treating the disease with antibiotics may be safer than the reaction to the vaccine...

I'm in total agreement with the first comment. We have been using Bug-Off Garlic from Springtime,Inc. for many years. We live in the southern tip of Illinois on 80 acres with lots of woods and where fleas and ticks are a big problem. The only downside is the strong odor when preparing the dogs food and right after they eat. That's a small price to pay for me. Cedar oil from Cedar Oil Industries not only repels insects but will actually kill a tick. I know because I have sprayed ticks and they are goners. I spray it on my hiking boots and sometimes the dogs legs. I don't put the cedar oil on their bodies much anymore because of the build-up. I's great for keeping spiders and wasps away from your house, too! I only occasionally use Frontline.

I used to have many ticks every day on the dog, cat and myself...It did not matter what I used, everything worked for a while and then quit working and I would switch... I now have chickens and turkeys instead of ticks, they like to eat ticks.... less fleas but still have those

I used Frontline for many years. Fortunately she never suffered from the disease, and managed to clear it on her own! We were lucky, but I decided that Frontline was no longer the answer. Since we live in Rhode Island, it's imperative to use something. I have been using a garlic supplement from "Springtime Inc", a company that has been in business for years. I carefully researched this as I know that garlic can be harmful to dogs. If a dog is fed an excessive amount, it can cause anema. For example, a 75lb Golden Retriever would need to ingest about 75 cloves of garlic in each meal before there would be any damage to red blood cells. I decided to try it, and use 1/4 tablet on my 5 lb dog every day. We started this 2 years ago, and I have had her blood counts checked 3-4 times since then. They have always been normal. She will be 15 years old soon! No problems with ticks either! I cannot smell the garlic in her skin, but supposedly the ticks can, and they don't like it.

I live in Massachusetts. I switched from the chemical spot treatments to the natural methods after the Environmental Protection Agency recalled all spot on treatments for toxicity. I've faithfully used weight based dose Brewers yeast and garlic year round in my dogs' food, and Only Natural Pet's Herbal Defense Spray. I also use Only Natural Pet's Herbal Defense shampoo. I've never had an issue with fleas or ticks in the last 6 years.

I go to Fire Island, Long Island, NY in the summer.
There are many, many deer ticks.
I have been using Flee Flea Flee 2Xs a day in food and Flea Flicker sprayed on before each walk outside.
Upon returning from the walk a thorough going over with a flea comb.
In several years I have found one attached flea with minimal engourgemnt-no consequesnces-caught early enough.
She is healthy and eats a home cooked meal.
I will keep it up this summer and keep my fingers crossed for continued success.
I

I take my dog in an area where there are deer. I have had to remove ticks until I began using a spray containing essential oils called EcoSmart. It mainly contains Geraniol and lemon grass oil. I added citronella to the mixture.

My dog is usually only off leash on our property, about 6 acres deer fenced. We use Vectra on him, which seems to help, but is not foolproof. I feel like I am always checking him for ticks, with one last full body check before bedtime.

What seems to have helped the most is a combination of deer fencing the property and Damminix. Since ticks need two hosts to complete their life cycle, typically deer and mice, we are trying to eliminate the presence of the deer hosts on the property and kill the ticks on the mice. Damminix "tick tubes" are cardboard tubes (slightly smaller than the cardboard tube toilet paper comes on) filled with cotton balls treated with permethrin. The idea is to put them around the property in prime mouse habitat so the mice finds the cotton, use it in their nests and the permethrin kills the ticks on the mice. It takes a lot of these tubes to treat the area (lots of stone walls, heaps of old wood), and the directions say to do it twice a year. I put out the tick tubes last May. I was supposed to do another application in late summer, but time got away from me. I am due to put down more tubes this week.

The first year we had our dog we had just fenced the property for the first time and I was taking ticks off him every day - usually at least one per day, sometimes two. I also found them in the house -- like they would hitch a ride in on him and the jump off. So far this year (after two years of deer fence and one year of Damminix) I have taken two ticks off him. My fingers are crossed that this is helping and will continue to help.

Would very much like to hear if anyone else has tried this and whether they have had good results. I heard about Damminix from a landscape designer we know who tried it and she believes it worked on one particularly tick- infested property she was working on.

I have a 2/3rds of an acre property where my dogs run free....but here in CA there are ticks. frontline was not working anymore, certainly not for fleas and presumably not for ticks either. i finally, with a lot of reluctance, started my dogs on NexGard, which my vet had recommended. it seems to be working and neither of my dogs has had a bad reaction. i do have my yard sprayed every 2 months for tick control by my neighbor who is in the pest control business. he also has dogs. i would rather not use any chemicals, but i cannot have my dogs, myself or my grandkids subjected to tick bites and possibly lyme disease.

We live in the foothills of the Pyrenees in the south of France. Ticks are a huge problem here all year round and there is a major risk of babiosis. Once you've seen how fast it can become deadly, you never want to take that risk again. I've tried the spot ons, but I find them difficult to apply well in thick coats. We did try Bravecto for awhile, but the ticks still have to attach to the dog before they're killed (to fast to transmit disease). That bothered me, although our vet has told me she has had no cases of illness in treated dogs.

I wound up switching to Seresto collars, which, while pricey, are effective for 8 months. They have no smell, my dogs have had no negative reactions and they repulse the ticks, so none attach to the dog, although I've found one or two dead/dying ticks on my longer haired BC. We'll be sticking with Seresto?

I live in an area with A LOT of deer ticks. I used Frontline Plus and my 3 dogs still got bitten and came down with Lyme Disease and had to receive antibiotics, My vet recommended the SCALIBOR PROTECTOR BAND and no one has had a tick bite in 6 years!!

I live in a high tick area as well and have found a product called Wondercide to be pretty effective. Its' base is Cedar oil and the ticks sure don't like it. If I do find one on the dogs, a direct spray kills it. It takes spraying faithfully, but I am not using any other chemical product. I must say I have found ticks on the dogs, but not if I'm being diligent. www.wondercide.com

Our property in VT has a meadow, woods, and a wetland. The ticks are UNBELIEVABLE in the spring and in the fall. My two dogs can go out for 10 minutes and come in with 10 ticks (each). It is war out there!

My routine of using monthly Frontline Plus AND natural herbal repellents just wasn't working anymore, and after each dog had to be treated for Lyme and then Anaplasmosis twice, I finally had to try something else. Being on Doxycycline for 28 days once or twice per year can't be very good for the dogs either! And they both got so sick; something had to be done. My vets and vet techs all had been using Bravecto on their dogs for a couple of years with no adverse reactions; so against my maternal instincts, I tried Bravecto. They are currently on month 2 of the first 3-month dose, and (knock wood) are both doing fine, no reactions whatsoever. It's amazingly scary how well this stuff works. I am finding dead ticks on the carpets, dead ticks in their fur, and none of the ticks are engorged at all. And another benefit is that they smell like my wonderful dogs, not like pesticide, since it's taken internally. I will try to give them a month's break between doses just to be on the safe side, if possible, of course depending on what the tick load is like in June when the next dose is due.

All that said, I'm not recommending this for anyone else since it's safety is still a bit in question; there are scary stories out there on the internet, but as far as I can tell they are all circumstantial. In my case, it was the lesser of two evils. I had accounts from a dozen veterinary professionals who were using it on their own dogs successfully. We have to weigh the pros and cons and ultimately make our decisions based on what's best for our fur-kids. It's tough stuff!

I have been a loyal user of Frontline and brush through my dogs' fur after walks. One of them still came down with anaplasmosis. He did recover, but it wasn't an easy thing. You do what you can do, but sometimes even that is not enough!